The highest volcano in the world is the Nevado Ojos del
Salado (6.893 m) in Argentina / Chile and considered as
a dormant volcano, since only fumarolic activities are
observed. 'Recent' outbreaks have not yet been
documented and the world of experts is debating whether
the Vulkan can be described as active at all. Then we
have the Guallatari (6070m) in Chile. The only
documented activity was
a weak and
modest steam cloud emission in 1960, which
is not countable as an eruption.

So the
Sabancaya would have moved to place 3. But I don't
agree with this! This
giant
volcano was documented
with its outbreaks since the 15th century and is now
vehemently ejecting
glowing slag and ash clouds into the stratosphere.
According to this facts, it is for me the highest active volcano No.1 in the
world, which offers serious eruptions by a may historic
present
activity now. By the way, the Cotopaxi in Ecuador is now
the active No 2.
*************************************************************************

The arrivalL: The grand Zocalo from
Arequipa R: Sabancaya pan cake from..... master cooking
Peruan people well known by our guide
Edison.

Up at the Volcano

Strong uprising ashplume with Geminid Meteors

The
Meteor Stream of Geminids reaches its maximum every year
on Dec. 14th. After our first observation point was
located 5070m north of the volcano, crystal-clear
conditions prevailed. Not even the bright full moon
could obscure this "meteor shower". The left meteor is a
'Sporadic', but the right is a clear Geminid, which
traversed the southern sky with an extremely bright glow
of 20 °.

Our most beautiful eruption
hurled red-hot material up to an estimated height of 500m

Rare red night animations
:-)More animations as time lapses
Eruptions seen from the northern side.
Eruptions seen from the southern side.
The ash cloud moved over the imposant 6320m high volcano Ampato.
During our staytime the winter came back over the volcano
plain.

Further "red" cinder / ash discharges. Almost silent
but with a little roaring, the eruption phases began, with
ash plumes reaching an average altitude of 2-3 km.

Initially (12-14 Dec) some ash discharges
reached the edge of the stratosphere. According to the
volcano institute OVI, this means that the
ash discharges had a maximum altitude of
4-5 km.

And who thinks we drive there just once
up has sometimes grossly deceived. The 25km trip to
the 5070m high Nordplatz was one of the wildest off-road
jogging trips in my 4x4 Weeled life. The route was
not visible any more, and even our highly
experienced off-road driver put the crate into a
beautiful morass hole in a lofty swampland. Because
of existing flat plate the exposure lasted only 3
hours. Before that, however, we were still stuck in
some sand dunes.

Mighty ash discharges seen from the north
side.

Ash
ejection seen from the south side.

In the altitude
of 4500-5000m it seems
almost hostile for life, anyway lama and
alpaca herds are abundant. Right in the background the
volcano Misti.

To the fauna the unique flora. Moss-like tubers up
to 4 meters in diameter characterize the image of the
elevated level. Where the Paramongras has already miserably
abandoned, these 'Living Rocks' feel puddle. Tip for future
planting and for amateur gardeners on Mars.

.Edison and our northern
stand about 4-5 km from the volcano.

Tent place in the southern area.
Rest in an ancient Inka water canal. After this was used
only by Martin, the purpose of the time could have been
the melting-water collection. The global decline in
glaciers makes this building over a few kilometers long
superfluous. Glaciers were only seen from an estimated
altitude of 5700m in the peak regions of the volcano
Ampato (6288m) and Hualca Hualca (6025m)

A Peruvian shepherd with a lama who was
just a few days young

Peruan people in their great
classical costumes.

Sweet Home in the village of
......

A visit Besuch in the Volcanological Institution
OVI.
Here we were told abaut the conditions at the
Sabancaya and the other monitored volcanoes in a cordial
friendliness.